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Austin Babies
MrsAJL
member
Ear piercing - baby girls
MrsAJL
member
So I have a question of moms with girls:
Did you decide to have your daughter's ears pierced when she was a baby or did you decide that it would be a decision for her to make when she's older and not have them pierced as a baby?
My mom and her sister had their ears pierced as babies (which I think was sort of a cultural expectation. She's Mexican.) But my father was dead set against it until we were old enough. Just wondering what other moms think about this.
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Re: Ear piercing - baby girls
oh, bad pun!
Mine were pierced as a baby. Most of my friends have had their baby girls' ears pierced.
I don't have anything against it. I would have had Layna's done, I just never got around to it. I don't feel like messing with it and having to clean them and have them possibly get infected.
Also, I don't feel like trying to explain to Jakob why his little sister could have earrings but he can't. I've posted about it before, he wants his ears pierced. I wouldn't care but unfortunately there is a stigma against little boys with earrings. I decided that Jakob already has enough trouble with school, he doesn't need that strike against him.
Oops, I didn't even see that soapbox there. Stepping down now.
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My ears were pierced when I was a baby and it has always been the trend in our family. I am happy that my Mom did it and have no objections. But, DH and I decided we would let our girls decide when they wanted their ears pierced and then we would do it at a reasonable age (thinking somewhere between 7-8). I want them to be old enough to take care of them.
My Mom didn't know that and bought DD#1 some expensive earrings when she was born. Thankfully she didn't push her opinion on us too much.
We will wait. I understand culturally many people pierce their daughters ears. I personally don't have an issue with it. But for me, I also don't believe it's the right message to send to my daughters. There is no reason to do it other than it's cute or pretty when they're little. (And people can tell they are a girl if they are still in that infant stage.) But I don't want to send a message to my daughters that shows them I felt a need to add on or dress up their appearance. I grew up in a home where being yourself wasn't good enough and was told over and over how much prettier I was if I wore certain clothes or makeup, etc. I am very cautious not to pass that message on to my daughters and want them to be happy in themselves just how they are.
When they are old enough to ask for it and we can discuss it, we will do it. But not as an infant.
My parents wouldn't let me pierce my ears until I was 12. It was a loong wait for me, but my mom made a big deal out of it. We went, just the two of us (big deal in a family of 6) and got them pierced, I got to pick out some special earrings in addition to the 'piercing pair,' we had lunch out at a restaurant (we never ate out), etc. My sisters got to do it at 10 which made me kind of mad that I had to wait two extra years, but I do understand that they had older sister(s) and couldn't wait to be "cool" like me.
I don't think I'll make them wait until 12, but I do think they should be older and we'll make a big deal out of it. As an adult, I'm not comfortable sleeping in earrings so I take mine out every night. Along with other things, this plays into my thoughts on the subject because I don't think they'd be comfy either and I'm not going to mess with sleeping babies/toddlers.
B&W Photo by Wildhouse Photography
i grew up in a largely hispanic community and felt like i was the only one without my ears pierced. i couldn't WAIT to get them done, and was mad at my parents for not having it done when i was a baby and wouldn't remember the pain, because while i was excited to have pierced ears, i was terrified the pain would be horrible. i finally got them done when i was in middle school (after begging my dad for years - he felt pierced ears weren't for little girls). my mom made sure i took care of the piercings.
i thought i'd pierce aubrey's as a baby, but i could never bring myself to pull the trigger (so to speak). so i guess now it's up to her - when she wants them more than she wants to avoid the pain.
as a side note, i've always wondered if my piercing experience was the reason i didn't get 2nd/3rd/body piercings in high school/college when all of my friends did. i didn't want to to through the drama again!
s/o - all of the 'wait until she decides she wants it' answers make me wonder how many girls end up choosing NOT to pierce their ears. i feel a poll comin'!
I won't pierce Baby Too's ears. When she wants them pierced and is old enough to take care of them, I'll take her to get them done. I got mine done when I was 10 and it was my grandma who encouraged me. She wanted to get me a pair of birthstone earrings but said she'd only get pierced ones. My vanity was way more important than any pain.
When I was about 22, I was manning a booth at the American Academy of Pediatrics medical conference and the group next to me was a company called Blomdahl, that produces earrings and piercing devices for pedis offices. The earrings are made of solid medical grade nylon (as opposed to nickel posts). As things were winding down, a couple of doctors came over to the booth and wanted a demo. The guy running the booth asked if I wanted to get my ears pierced again for free (it was a really slow afternoon.) I said sure, why not. So my ears are double pierced now. LOL!
This!
Funny story: My dad was against his daughters getting their ears pierced. When I was about 10 I remember evesdropping on my parents arguing about it. My dad said, "She already has enough holes in her body for us to worry about!" and my Mom just laughing and telling him not to say things like that. It's probably a good thing I didn't understand what he meant at the time
Oh, and I got my ears pierced about a week later. It was a great memory!
I always thought I'd pierce my daughter's ears as an infant. However, I feel differently now. Honestly, it's 99% because I don't want to deal with it! The other 1% is a little birdie in my ear telling me not to ruin her innocence, and that little girls are perfect the way they are born.
I had mine done at 4. I can't remember how old my sister was, but I think she was older. I distinctly remember that it hurt like hell, and I didn't have to have the other ear pierced after that.
We left it up to Meredith. She asked about piercing, so we explained how it was done, and we said that when she wanted to have it done, we'd take her. She has brought it up several times, but she always changes her mind.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
When I got DD's ears pierced at her pedi, this is the brand they used.
I got my first set when I was 5. I apparently begged my mom everyday for a year. I would like to get Kate's ears pierced when she chooses for herself. I think 5 would be fine, DH disagrees. He wants her to have to wait until she's 18 which is when he got the first of his many ear piercings. I can't even imagine having to wait that long. I got my second set of ear piercings when I was 11 or 12- also after begging forever and by 18 I had moved on to the belly button.
I am considering taking her to a piercing place when we do have them done. I got one of my cartilage piercings done at the mall and it took years to heal properly. I got the other one done at a piercing place and I never had any problems with it. I like that they use a needle instead of a gun, I just don't know if they do regular earrings.
My stepmother apparently thinks that Kate's ears should already have been pierced- she got her a pair of diamond earrings for Christmas when she was 6 months old. How ridiculous. As if I would let a baby wear real diamond earrings anyway. I thought DH was going to die. His mother (MIL) is the only adult woman I know who doesn't have her ears pierced.
she must have a lot of faith in babies/toddlers.
I know. I was like, even if her ears were pierced there's no way I would let her wear these! Maybe I'll let her have them when she turns 16. Or 18.
My dad broke up with a girlfriend because she took me to the mall when I was 7 and got my ears pierced.
I wasn't supposed to be allowed until I showed responsibility in some other areas. I didn't take care of them, they got infected and had to heal and be redone.
I may do a piercing place too when the time comes. The gun just does bad things and most of the people at those places have no clue what they're doing.
The girls will have to beg
It will probably end up being a reward for something special or make it a milestone event. Otherwise, I've seen 2 x-rays in 4 years with earrings in the belly of a kiddo under 3. Not worth the admit to Dell Childrens for us! If you choose to pierce, please consider getting ones with screw backs. It's not a for sure, but it helps.
I have nothing against them at all in babies -- just never have wanted to deal with them.
I am sure the girls will want them some day, and I'll let them. Probably make it some special day. Haven't really thought about it since it hasn't come up yet.
On a sidenote, a have a BFF whose 2 girls both received diamond earrings at birth. The grandparents actually fought over who would get to give the first set...
6-yr-old Elena and 4-yr-old Julia.
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